Zack's Conundrum
by Chocobo Watcher
Summary: There's just no easy way to tell someone the truth. Rated M for subject matter and nature of a certain relationship herein. ZackXAngeal- Aeris.


Disclaimers, Props, and Thank-You's Oh My:

Apologies to Anthony Hope for my blatant theft of his story idea. And to Aeris, who is not on speaking terms with me at the moment. I don't own Final Fantasy VII, the characters, Mr. Hope's characters, or any facsimile thereof. This story is all my fault.

Zack's Conundrum

It was a beautiful summer morning. The sun shone brightly over the Banoran apple orchard. Zack could be seen seated in his favorite spot beneath an apple tree. His sword rested next to him on the grass. He appeared to be engrossed in thought. Every so often he would pause to write a few lines in a black hard bound book that was spread upon his lap. An uneaten apple lay within reach, and for a moment the young man paused, but then resumed writing.

Eventually, Aeris entered the orchard, dressed in a blue and white frock. She plucked one of the large purple apples from the tree, bit it, and found it to her liking. Slowly she walked over to where Zack was, the sat down next to him on the grass. She smiled.

"You said you needed to talk to me?"

" I do, Aeris. Can I ask your opinion about something?"

" It's something important that I want to ask you. And it involves people we know. so i'd prefer that you didn't tell anyone about it. And you mustn't look at me while I talk about it." An odd request, Aeris thought. But maybe what he was about to share was something he was ashamed of, so she remained silent.

"Suppose a man had...two people that he was interested in, or rather there were two people who were interested in him. And suppose one of them liked him a lot, and was hoping that eventually he'd...you know...ask her to marry him. And he likes her very much too. The two would make an ideal match, were it not for the circumstances."

"The circumstances?"

"He's not in love with her. He loves her, yes, but he doesn't **love **her. He cares, but not that much. Do you understand?"

" Yes. Lots of people feel affection for others without it becoming physical." Aeris replied.

" Well, the other person is a man, a mentor of sorts, and he's clever, and fearfully handsome. No wait, let me think. And the man is totally- I mean he admires this person greatly, short of being a god and he-" Zack paused.

"Go on." said Aeris.

" He thinks it would be wonderful if he could just be everything for this man,you know?"

"You mean becoming his lover?"

" I think I do. But it's more complex than that."

"How so?"

"Well, he doesn't seem to want or need things beyond a certain point. They trust each other- but the mentor seems indifferent at times. But then, you know, the man feels his mentor **must** care for him, because there is no one else, and he's handsome and could have anyone, but chose **him**.

I mean, what's a man to do? He thinks that life with this man would be heaven, and together they could face anything as long as they had each other."

" Very interesting. The question is, will he act wisely and marry the woman for whom he has little affection, like a friend, for the sake of appearances? The careers of those two men might be in jeopardy if they were found out. Or become the husband of this man whom he loves exceedingly, but whose real feelings he's uncertain about and risk everything for love?"

"Not quite. The mentor hasn't exactly **asked** him that question, you see."

"So aside from the influence of emotions that the mentor has on him, marriage to the woman is still an acceptable option."

"Sort of. But there's the problem of the fact that he would always be thinking about the mentor. The truth is he doesn't have any inclination towards sex with a woman at all. Any feeling like that would be momentary at best. Moreover, if she were to pursue him in that way, two things might happen. Either he would be forced to reject her, even as a friend- or out of some strange sense of duty be drawn into something that would hold little or no pleasure for him. Do you understand what I am saying?"

"Absolutely. I think that the man shouldn't have to marry the woman if he doesn't want to. But I also think that this mentor person should be left alone."

There was a long silence between them. During that time both Zack and Aeris managed to pull apart several dandelions, each in a loves-me-loves-me-not fashion. It was Aeris who broke the silence.

"Do you think there is any chance that in the future, the man might regret his affiliation with the mentor and regret what he had done by not choosing to love the woman?"

Aeris, shifting her position away from Zack, wanted to leave the conversation.

"I think he would, possibly yes. But he would also probably find that no one could love him like his mentor could. And he would be, I suppose where he lo...I mean wants to be."

Aeris jumped up. "Is that all you wanted to talk about, Zack? I need to run an errand in town, and need to get going."

"Yes, that's all. I haven't bored you, have I?"

"Not at all. I hope your friends manage to resolve yo..I mean their, conflict. " And Aeris was off and running from the orchard before Zack could stop her.

Zack heaved a sigh of both relief and regret. He knew it wasn't the best way to tell Aeris. But it was certainly easier than dodging around Angeal and his emotional whims. Not to mention the jealousy disguised as protective behavior. But that was something to tackle another day.

Zack spent the next couple of hours reading and writing bad expressive poetry about Angeal. When Aeris still hadn't returned he wandered up to the Inn. The innkeeper hailed him as he was passing the front desk.

"I'll be needing t'other half of the bill now, sir". "Eh?" "Your young lady had to go home to Midgar. Something about a sick relative. She told me to tell you goodbye, and that she'll call you when her relation is better. I'll be having that bill now, if you dunnae mind."

"No problem!" Zack said, and thumped his money on the counter. Then he went upstairs to his room only to discover the telephone was ringing. Zack felt his heart begin to pound as he answered.

"Zack, is that you? I'm back from Wutai and will be there in a couple of hours. I've missed you, puppy." "I've missed you too." A knock came from behind the door. "Do you have everything you need? T'maids don't come again until Wednesday."

"Yes," Zack laughed, "I have everything in the world that I want right now, thanks."

"Zackary, who was that?" Angeal sounded more than just curious.

"It was just the innkeeper . Something about the maids. Oh, by the way, Aeris never showed. Something about a sick relative. You can relax now."

The Innkeeper would never tell how he had seen Aeris enter the Inn and run up to her room with tears streaming down her cheeks. Or that she had thrown an entire box full of what looked like letters onto the fire in the lounge fireplace before leaving the Inn without another word. And there ends my story.


End file.
